BNP Shows Banks Whistle Past Prosecutorial Graveyard

Guilty pleas to criminal charges by BNP Paribas and some other financial firms should put to rest fears that banks are "too big to jail." Even so, that isn't necessarily great news for the financial system or investors.

The reason some banks were perceived to be outside the reach of the law's long arm was that a criminal charge would prove so devastating it could upend a firm and disrupt the functioning of the financial...